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The A.B.C. Murders

    Amazon.com: The A. B. C. Murders: A Hercule Poirot Mystery ...

Agatha Christie's The A.B.C. Murders is a suspenseful chase complete with Hercule Poirot's wit and wisdom. 

Summary

Alice Ascher is beaten to death in her small newspaper and cigar shop in Andover. Just as Poirot and his earnest sidekick Captain Hastings dip their toes in, Elizabeth "Betty" Barnard is murdered on the beach in Bexhill, strangled with her own belt. Poirot only begins to gather witnesses and people involved in any way when Sir Carmichael Clarke's skull is crushed on a walk in Churston. At the scene of each crime, an A.B.C. railway guide is left as an omen, a warning, a mark of A.B.C.'s (the murder's) territory. Before a crime an anonymous, tantalizing, mocking note is sent to Poirot and Captain Hastings. As the letters of the alphabet fly by, A.B.C. starts making fatal mistakes and Poirot and his crew get closer and closer to unmasking the letter-obsessed killer. 

Review

I love mystery, suspense, and murder when I read books. Agatha Christie certainly scratches that itch with The A.B.C. Murders and all of the Hercule Poirot mysteries. While the ending in this novel is not as satisfying as some of the other mysteries, the tantalization of the murder notes, the chase of a masked killer, the careful attention to detail, the marking down and taking note of every footstep, intention, and unintentional action is brilliant. Not only is it a race for the "good guys" to find the true identity of A.B.C. but it is also a race between the reader and Poirot. Who will figure this out first? While I would not classify this as a horror novel, do not read the last 100 pages or so before bed! The ending seems to very obvious but takes a sudden turn in the ultimate denouement. Read The A.B.C. Murders if you like reading suspense books that you can think out for yourself!

Audience: 7th- 12th graders
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc.
Date Published: 1935-6
ISBN: 9781579126247
Format: Hardback
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Hercule Poirot Mystery



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